Assalamu Alaykum Wa Rahmatullahi Wa Barakatuh I love reading stories and i love writing them as well. I was wondering, is it haram to read a story where there is romance? When i read a story like this i do not seek to do haram things like have a boyfriend or anything like that, and i even skip the pages that have something romantic in it. Is it a sin for me to read a book like this? On the other hand, is it haram for me to write a book where there is a male a female, but i don’t include any romance between them? For example, in my story, a man and a woman are colleagues at work, is writing this story haram, will i get sins from it? Please answer ASAP as i feel very scared whether i’m doing something haram or not.
Answer:
All perfect praise be to Allah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah, and that Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His slave and Messenger.
The so-called romantic stories that depict love affairs are often not devoid of concepts that go against the Sharee‘ah. They promote vice in some ways and downplay the gravity of unlawful relationships outside marriage. Reading such stories has a powerful impact on the soul, similar to that of magic, given its appealing style and exciting events. They impact the reader’s soul and may even influence his behavior, encouraging him to engage in an unlawful relationship. Since the Islamic Sharee‘ah dictates the elimination of means that lead to evils and blocking the paths leading to corrupting and tempting the hearts, our advice to you is to refrain from reading these stories. For more benefit on reading romantic stories, please refer to Fatwa 86046.
Allah Knows best.